Scrapbooking Team Sports

Point guard. Red card. Spiker. Sweeper. Pickle. If reading any of these terms makes you think immediately of a ball field, hockey rink or indoor court, it’s a safe bet you are a fan of team sports. Maybe someone in your family is goalie for your soccer or hockey team. Maybe you get out every Thursday night for sand-court volleyball yourself. If so, it’s also a safe bet you have photos and memorabilia from your team involvement. Read on for some fresh ideas for photos and scrapping projects to remember your team.

Photo Tips
Each particular sport has unique challenges in photography. Some are easier to overcome than others. In all sports, capturing action is a key element. Here are some strategies to help you do just that.

• Pre-focus on a location into which your athlete will move, then snap at the precise moment.
• Use a combination of a high film speed and fast shutter speed to freeze action.
• Follow your athlete by “panning” your camera slowly with the movement. This is particularly artful when done well, blurring the scene around and creating a sense of motion.

Lighting is the second sports photography challenge you’ll probably face. If your sport occurs outside in daylight, you’ll have the best luck at capturing well-lit shots. Other sports fans aren’t so lucky. Here are some ideas to consider.

• If you’re into hockey, curling or other ice sports, keep in mind that with that expanse of white ice, you run the risk of overexposure. Try setting your aperture for a half stop less or bracket your shots.


• Indoor arenas and gyms can really be deceiving. It will appear bright to your eye, but it is very typical to have these shots underexposed. Add a half stop to your exposure setting.


• Outdoor night sports, such as a night game at the football stadium, will look best with fast film. Remember that unless your flash is a professional-grade off-camera one, it will not provide enough light to reach your subject on the field. Shooting at a film speed of 1600 will increase your chances of getting the photos you want.

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Photo Ops
You’ll want to capture some classic sports shots, if you can. Look to the photos you see featured in your local sports section of the daily paper for inspiration. Some examples include:

• The team high-fiving after scoring or a win
• The physical contact of opposing players scrambling for the ball or puck
• The focus on a player’s face before serving the ball or making a free throw
• The batter slamming the ball, or sliding to base

Don’t forget the fans, or the quiet moments in the sport. Sometimes, trying to capture action will be impossible, but you can still capture an essence of the sport. One of my favorite photos was taken as several of the boys on my son’s 7th grade football team were walking back to the locker room. Their helmets were off, and their backs were to me, but they were clearly engaged in a discussion of the game just played.

Saving the Glory Days
Each scrapbooker will make her own decision about where to include any layouts about team sports. Most of the ones I’ve done for my two sons are part of their chronological albums. However, I have a son who has become a real “soccerhead,” allowing that to define who he is right now in his life. That deserves an album all its own, one that he might be able to share with his own soccerhead child someday.

Consider smaller albums or even less typical designs, such as accordion foldouts that can be displayed on a shelf in your athlete’s bedroom or dorm room. Older boys tend to be less interested in a photo album, but a cool-looking piece of “art” is something they can display along with trophies and medals.

Most often, you’ll design your layouts and albums in a more or less chronological fashion; 7th grade football, 7th grade basketball, 8th grade football and so forth.

Consider taking another approach that may help you look more deeply at what is gained from playing a team sport besides speed and muscle. Look at the sport from the standpoint of lessons learned, and create layouts to illustrate these lessons. This is a great way to gather up random shots that are from a number of events. A layout could be designed around the theme of “hard work goes into a winning team,” or “mentor-coach.”

Design for a Great Team
There are as many design possibilities as there are team mascots. Your personal style will likely dictate your approach, directing you to go shabby or clean. Using team colors is an obvious choice, and can be especially effective if you decide to do an entire album. It will help coordinate the overall look, and if you work with color photos, it is highly likely you’ll be able to match your products to your photos, no matter if they were taken during the first game of the season or the state playoffs.

Take a look at the wide range of sports-themed papers and products available as well. Many of the major paper companies have developed whole product lines around most major sports. Some have a modern feel, others are funky retro. Many have accompanying embellishments to further enhance your design, such as football-shaped charms or stickers and overlays.

Don’t be afraid to use some of these products for your basic scheme, and then add items from your own stash to give your design a unique look. The title page for my soccerhead’s album combines Karen Foster soccer paper with a kente cloth design from Grassroots. Using an international pattern underscores something I’ve discovered in my world travels—soccer is a bridge across cultures.

One approach that is especially fun is to create a layout with the look of a newspaper or magazine feature. Digital designers can search their photo editing software to find pre-made templates with a magazine cover look or design one of their own. Younger kids in particular enjoy seeing themselves in that context.

Enjoy the game!
Use some or all of these ideas to capture and save team memories. Enjoy the process, but don’t get so caught up in saving the memories that you miss experiencing your child’s first touchdown or goal first-hand. There will always be more, but that first one is priceless.

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